English as the National Language

Last week, Der Furor took time out from his busy schedule of bullying allies, enriching President Musk, breaking the government, and playing golf (at Mar-a-Lago, at your expense) to issue yet another royal decree executive order, this one titled "Designating English as the Official Language of The United States." Unlike most of the Orange Airhorn's other royal decrees executive orders, I could actually ... sort of ... support this one.

Section 1 (Purpose and Policy) of the order contains this justification:

"A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language"

As one of the few people you probably know who actually has a degree in Linguistics (Penn State, 1973) and fluently speaks a second language, I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on the topic of language, and I completely agree that a common language is a unifying asset for a nation. To that extent, I agree with Der Furor's decree order. One of the things that enabled the United States to become a powerhouse nation was the early adoption of an common language - English - that allowed people of all races and national backgrounds to communicate with each other. Immigrants from dozens of countries speaking scores of languages were streaming into the new country, and the availability and widespread use of a common tongue helped them assimilate and work together to build the nation we know today.

I believe the fact that it was an unofficial common language was important - it fit in with the American idea of a government "by the people" who voluntarily used a common tongue because it was convenient and useful, not because it was mandated by a powerful ruler who commanded its use as a tool to enforce the rule of a dominant group.

But when members of a subculture insist on using their own language, rather than the unofficial common tongue, they drive a linguistic wedge between themselves and their fellow citizens, and make life difficult for both. Years ago, when my wife worked as a member service representative at a local credit union, she often had a lot of trouble helping members who spoke no English - mostly only Spanish or various African languages. This particularly irked her because she is herself German, and prides herself on her ability to read and write English better than many Americans*. How are these people able to function here? she would often ask rhetorically. 

So yes, I think there's a value in having a common national language, but I don't agree that establishing it by royal fiat is the way to go about it. Mandating rather than encouraging the use of English is an example of - gasp! - government overreach and encroachment on personal freedoms (hear that, GOP? Libertarians?), and accomplishes nothing that generations of new arrivals haven't figure out soon enough on their own.

All that said, I'm pleased that the Orange Airhorn has mandated English as the national language of the United States. It will make it easier for us to understand each other as we compare notes on his failures.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Including the sitting president. She was always amazed that her native-born American coworkers often asked her to review things they'd written to make sure they were correct.

The Alphabet Soup of Gender Identity

While I was doing the research for yesterday's post updating Der Furor's war on "gender ideology extremism," Mike pointed out another aspect of the issue that I hadn't thought about before, embodied in the question 

What is the longest LGBT acronym possible nowadays? 

It's an interesting question, and it relates to one of the reasons I believe Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost the presidential election: an over-emphasis on topics of gender identity inclusivity with which many Americans were uncomfortable. 

The term "LGBTQ+" is everywhere, and most of us probably can't define the gender identity terms it embodies. But as Mike helpfully pointed out, "LGBTQ+" doesn't even begin to address the entire spectrum of sexual and gender identity terms floating around out there ... as it happens, there are at least 109* (I didn't count them myself, but Mike did), and you can read about all of them here if you wish. 

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, there were boys and girls. I vaguely understood that there were boys and girls who were ... well ... a little different, but it wasn't something that affected me, or that I thought very much about. The first time I personally faced the reality of the difference was when I was a 29 year old Air Force officer living in the American Arms, the single officers' hotel in Wiesbaden, Germany. I was attracted to a young woman of the same rank who was one of my neighbors, and spent weeks unsuccessfully trying to get a date with her. Eventually, a mutual female friend took me aside and gently let me know that while this woman liked me, she wasn't really interested in relationships with men.

I had finally come face to face with the "L."

Over the years since, I've met scores of people I came to know were lesbian, gay, or bisexual. As I noted in an earlier post, I have been "hit on" by other men, but dealt with it by simply telling them I'm not interested ... much as a certain lady in Wiesbaden let me know years ago. 

My point is simply that we've let ourselves get too wrapped around an unnecessarily painful axle. Like I said above, I think an over-emphasis on worshipping at the festooned altar of overly complicated gender identities helped cost the Democrats the 2024 election by harping on a topic that alienated too many voters who would otherwise have voted for Harris and Walz.

Regardless of which of the 109** different gender identities you identify with, you have to live in a world alongside the other 108. Deal with it. Quietly. We'll all be happier.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* At the moment, and subject to change.

** And counting.

Defining Sex, the Updated, Expanded, and Corrected Version

Last Wednesday, I wrote a post titled "Defining Sex," which looked at your government's new guidance on approved terminology for the sexes. This guidance was issued by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, to flesh out Der Furor's imperial decree Executive Order 14168 of January 20, 2025, titled Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.  

I thought it was bad enough as it was, but fellow blogger Mike reminded me that the so-called "guidance" was, as are so many other things with the current administration, incomplete and poorly thought-out ... as he pointed out, many other important terms of sexual identity remain undefined. In order to help rectify this situation, I offer the following updates (in italics) to the previously-published terms, add other terms that the administration has not yet addressed, and add the additional information on sexual roles the religious and political buffoons leading this administration are thinking, but are not yet quite willing to say out loud: 

Sex: A person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female;

 

Female: a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova). The naturally inferior and submissive sex.

 

Male: a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm. The naturally superior and dominant sex.

 

Woman: an adult human female, intended by nature to reproduce and to serve as a housewife. Appropriate social controls need to be placed on women for their protection.

 

Girl: a minor human female, learning her natural role as housewife and mother. Appropriate social controls need to be placed on girls for their protection.

 

Man: an adult human male, intended by nature to dominate the woman and serve as the sole protector and provider for his family;

 

Boy: a minor human male, learning his natural role as dominator, protector, and provider;

 

Mother: a female parent, responsible for bearing children and caring for her family by performing domestic tasks (cooking, cleaning, etc); 

 

Father: a male parent, head of the family, and responsible for ensuring that the mother and female children perform their tasks and that the male children learn to grow into their dominant role; 

The following terms were somehow missed in the original imperial decree executive order and implementing HHS guidance, and will no doubt be added in subsequent revisions: 

Husband: the adult male head of a family and of a household.

Wife: the adult female who manages a household under the guidance and supervision of a husband. 

Family: a social unit consisting of an adult male parent (father), an adult female parent (mother), and children of either or both sexes. The family ensures the propagation of the human species and trains children to assume the future roles appropriate to their sex.  

Parent: an adult male (father, head of the family) or female (mother) who ensures the propagation of the species and the education of children for their proper social roles.

Child: the generic offspring of parents, regardless of sex.  

Son: the male offspring of a parent, who learns his role as the dominant sex and master of a future family from the male parent.

Daughter: the female offspring of a parent, who learns from the mother her submissive role as the bearer of  children and manager of the household of a future family led by a husband. 

Grandmother: an adult human female, the mother of a child's parent, responsible for assisting the mother in the education and rearing of female children for their place as future child bearers and performers of routine household duties; 

Grandfather: an adult human male, the father of a child's parent, responsible for assisting the father in the education and rearing of male children to assume their place as future dominators, protectors, and providers.

 If I've forgotten any other ones, let me know.

And if you haven't read "The Handmaid's Tale" and "1984," now would be a good time to do it.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo 

Poetry Sunday

It's easier to be poor but honest than rich but honest, if you ask me ...

Poor But Honest

by Anonymous

She was poor, but she was honest,

   Victim of the squire's whim:

First he loved her, then he left her,

   And she lost her honest name.

Then she ran away to London,

   For to hide her grief and shame;

There she met another squire,

   And she lost her name again.

See her riding in her carriage,

   In the Park and all so gay:

All the nibs and nobby persons

   Come to pass the time of day.

See the little old-world village

   Where her aged parents live,

Drinking the champagne she sends them;

   But they never can forgive.

In the rich man's arms she flutters,

   Like a bird with broken wing:

First he loved her, then he left her,

   And she hasn't got a ring.

See him in the splendid mansion,

   Entertaining with the best,

While the girl that he has ruined,

   Entertains a sordid guest.

See him in the House of Commons,

   Making laws to put down crime,

While the victim of his passions

   Trails her way through mud and slime.

Standing on the bridge at midnight,

   She says: 'Farewell, blighted Love.'

There's a scream, a splash-Good Heavens!

   What is she a-doing of?

Then they drag her from the river,

   Water from her clothes they wrang,

For they thought that she was drownded;

   But the corpse got up and sang:

'It's the same the whole world over;

   It's the poor that gets the blame,

It's the rich that get the pleasure.

   Isn't it a blooming shame?'

Yes, it is a blooming shame ... especially when your government is owned by the ultra-wealthy who believe poverty is a choice and safety nets are a waste of money unless they provide safety for big business.

Have a good day, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and be thankful for what you have.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

History Repeats Itself

One of the most depressing things about being interested in history lies in recognizing when it repeats itself.

It happened yesterday, when Der Furor and "Vice-President" Vance ambushed and berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on live television during an Oval Office meeting. The cheap schoolyard bullying of an ally fighting for his nation's life was appalling, cast our nation in the worst possible light, and mirrored the actions of a different autocratic bully that took place over a hundred years ago.

As the world spiraled toward World War II in the late 1930's, Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler treated two European leaders to the same savage bullying used by Der Furor on President Zelenskyy. 

The first was Hitler’s ambush and relentless bullying of Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schussnig in February of 1938, as he sought to absorb Austria into the German Reich. You can read about it here, and there's also a dramatic report of it in William Shirer's classic history The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Chancellor Schussnig was not the only European leader to suffer Hitler's bullying abuse. A year later, in March of 1939, Czech President Emil Hacha was bullied into a nervous breakdown by the Nazi leader ... an event also dramatically recounted in Shirer's history.

It's the lowest hanging of fruit to compare the Orange Airhorn to Adolf Hitler, one of the most terrible dictators in history, but in the embarrassing and despicable bullying of the President of Ukraine, history has clearly repeated itself.

The despicable behavior of Der Furor and "Vice-President" Vance, and the shameless toadying of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose embarrassing version of what we all saw on live television would be laughable were it not so shabby, have driven yet another nail into the lid of the coffin containing what's left of our national honor and dignity.

Have a good day, and reflect that our nation has turned from reliable ally and defender of the weak to the international equivalent of a cheap, ugly bully. 

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

The last eleven days of January and all 28 days of February sucked. Now we have March to look forward to ...

Der Furor and "Vice President" JD Vance berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an astonishing display of crude bullying in the Oval Office, accusing the Ukrainian president of being "disrespectful" and of not being sufficiently thankful for previous US aid; during his visit to the White House on Monday, French President Emanuel Macron provided reality lessons to a scowling Der Furor who slumped scowling in his chair at the sort of rebuke he's not used to hearing; an unvaccinated school-aged child died in Texas from measles - the first death since the dangerous disease was thought to have been eradicated in 2000; Andrew and Tristan Tate, misogynistic "influencers" who had been in prison in Romania on suspicion of human trafficking and rape, were released and allowed to return to the United States, apparently on the request of Der Furor's administration; and federal officials have cancelled a Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for March to select the strains to be included in next season’s flu shot - in the middle of a particularly severe flu season in which 86 children and 19,000 adults have already died. 

This week, in honor of the imperial aspirations of Der Furor, a collection of cartoons about kings ... 

Der Furor picks his advisors the same way ...

Well, he would, wouldn't he? ...

It's one of Der Furor's policies, too ...

There are Super PACs for kings, too ...

Incoming!! ...

Fun for some, sure ...

How Musk went from crown prince to king ...

It's all in what you care about ...

Der Furor is asking this every day ...

Not any more ... the United States is asking for tips on better dictatorship ...

And that's it for today's royal edition of Cartoon Saturday ... you may kowtow on your way out.

Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts tomorrow, when we visit someone at the other end of the economic and political spectrum.

Bilbo

Great Moments in Editing and Signage

It's the last day of the month, and time for another collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage to help get you in a good mood for the coming of ... gasp! ... March. Let's go ...

I've heard that this bank can't be beat - it offers a lot of good rates to rope you in ...

I think they may have gotten the advertising for their chastity belt division confused with the advertising for the bra division ...

Well, they're not wrong ...

I think someone slept through their geography classes ...

Somehow, I'm not surprised ...

I think this caption writer needs a raise ...

I wonder if this is human trafficking hiding in plain sight ...

I think that ICE will be ordering as many of these as they can ...

A slightly-used and housebroken sheep ... and for free! I think I'll pass, though ...

Speaking of used sheep ...

And that's it for the end-of-February editorial gems ... I hope they gave you a bit of a lift at a tough time in our nation's history.

Have a good day, and be sure to come back tomorrow to greet March with a new Cartoon Saturday - more thoughts then.

Bilbo

"America First," or "America Worst?"

President Musk, Der Furor, and their hand-picked stooges are fond of trumpeting that their agenda puts "America First." This ignores the fact that the slogan "America First" has a sketchy history in this country, being tied to the eponymous isolationist and pro-German movement of the 1930’s, culminating in the infamous pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939 ... 

Understandably, today's hyperconservatives have a different take on the earlier America First movement, focusing more on its domestic agenda and less on its pro-fascist history.

Let's be honest, though.

National leaders have a responsibility to put the interests of their nation first. You don't get to be president of your country by telling the voters you care more about the interests of a different country.

But in a world divided into 195 independent, self-governing nations - 193 UN member states, plus two non-member observer states (the Holy See and the State of Palestine) - it seems unlikely that peace could prevail if every one of those 195 nations ruthlessly pursued its interests without acknowledging the legitimate interests of anyone else. The general goal of international diplomacy since the end of World War II has been to achieve "win-win" outcomes of disputes whenever possible. Naturally, such outcomes don't always work (see Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the Former Soviet Union), but they're the desired goal.

Unless, of course, you have a completely transactional autocratic ruler like Der Furor, for whom a "win-win" outcome is considered a loss ... for the Orange Airhorn, it's not enough just to win - you have to win so decisively that your opponent is humiliated and your power is not just acknowledged, but feared.

This is why Der Furor has insulted and cast aside our longest and most faithful allies - the very thought that we might someday need the help of someone else, or that the United States might have to use some of its awesome power to help a less fortunate nation is an abomination to the ultimate transactional ruler. And lest any other nation think that they should stand up to the mighty United States, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth misses no opportunity to remind everyone that he's fielding the mightiest, most lethal, most "badass*" force in history.

We have gone, in the span of just over a month, from "America First" - the nation that the rest of the world looked up to, respected, and admired as a trustworthy, generous guarantor of peace and stability - to "America Worst" - a noisy, ugly bully that turns its back on its friends and gleefully kisses Vladimir Putin's backside.

Have a good day. Don't support either "America First" or "America Worst" - support "America at its Best."

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* This is a rather crude descriptor, but one suited to the imperial posturing of his boss ... who, himself, never bothered to serve in a military he viewed as filled with "suckers and losers."

Defining Sex

One of the first things Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, did when he took the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services was to issue departmental guidance to expand on Der Furor's royal decree executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." The royal decree executive order actually had little to do with either "defending women" or restoring "biological truth" ... it was simply a chunk of raw meat tossed to the religious right as a reward for their support and proof that Der Furor sympathizes with the terrible cross they bear by being "forced" to coexist with people they hate.

Your President Musk's federal government has established the following officially-approved definitions as government policy*:

Sex: A person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.

 

Female: a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova).

 

Male: a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.

 

Woman: an adult human female.

 

Girl: a minor human female.

 

Man: an adult human male.

 

Boy: a minor human male.

 

Mother: a female parent.

 

Father: a male parent.

Now, I don't want to chase too far down this rabbit hole, but here are a few of my candid observations ...

1. I'm a 73-year-old man, the father of three and grandfather of six. I understand how the biological function of sex for reproduction works. It's fun and, in my case, I like to think it's worked amazingly well.

2. I have never been attracted sexually to another man, although I know that there are men who are so attracted. I don't understand it (given the vast number of desirable women out there, and the spectacular one to whom I'm married), but I accept it.

3. I have been "hit on" by other men. Instead of screaming in terror, seeing the end of the world, and howling for pejorative litigation, I've simply told them I'm not interested. It works.

4. I have male friends that I know are gay or bisexual and female friends I know are lesbian or bisexual. I don't care. I can relate to them as friends without worrying about who they want to sleep with. Live and let live is not a bad policy.

5. Growing up, regardless of whether you're a boy or a girl, is hard. There are all sorts of complicated lessons to be learned about becoming an adult, making your way in the world, and relating to the opposite sex without being surrounded by howling mobs of people who insist on having a vote on who you choose to love.

6. Too many people spend entirely too much time clutching their pearls about something that affects a very small minority of the population. I'm an old guy ... when I have to pee, I really don't care if somebody else in the rest room with me used to be a woman. I understand that a woman may have a different take on this ... but unless the other person in the rest room with you is obviously a big, hairy dumbass who self-identifies as an "alpha male**," you should probably just each do your business and move on. 

There's more to the idea of sex and gender than I ever imagined as a teenager desperately trying to get dates with cute girls. I've learned to live with the complications. So can you.

Have a good day. Treat other people with the same respect you'd like to enjoy. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* You'd think we'd have more of a need for policies to address climate change (hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, etc), pandemics, rising authoritarianism, nuclear proliferation, extreme economic inequality, unhinged presidents, and other such existential threats than to address gender identity. But what do I know?

** Often known by the more scientifically descriptive term, "dumbass."

Ass Clown Special Award

We've made it almost to the end of February without making an out-of-cycle Ass Clown Special Award, but the time has come. The horrifying implosion of the US government, the deliberate insulting and abandonment of our allies, and the complete destruction of our international reputation require us to present the first

Ass Clown Special Award

 

of 2025 to both 

The Republican Party

and

The Democratic Party

The Republican Party, once the party of strong defense and resolute international leadership, has become the cowed lapdog of a president whose shamelessly servile deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin and insulting treatment of our allies has utterly destroyed the nation's international stature. From voting in lockstep to confirm a slate of unqualified candidates for Cabinet positions to keeping silent in the face of presidential behavior far beyond any limits of honesty, legality, morality, and common decency, the GOP has squandered whatever honor it may once have had. It completely ignores two and a half centuries of constitutional government and rule of law to empower a wannabe king whose throne was purchased by his billionaire friend.

The Democratic Party, faced with the challenge of an out-of-control president and a GOP racing toward fascism and rule by an angry religious minority, has folded like a cheap card table. With the notable exception of outspoken leaders like Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and Jamie Raskin, the Democrats are nowhere to be found pushing back against the most dangerous threat to the Republic since the Civil War. They have no coherent message and no strategy to counter the flood of outright lies and illegality flooding from the right. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries scarcely deserve the title of "Leader" as they flail in a helpless, reactive mode against a criminal, but strongly disciplined majority party.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, this Ass Clown Special Award is presented to the Republican Party, for its headlong rush to ruin the nation at home and abroad, and to the Democratic Party, for allowing them to do it.

I'm old enough to have proudly served in the military of a strong, confident, admired nation that has, sadly, been all but ruined by the major political parties. I weep for what my grandchildren will inherit.

Have a good day. Expect better and vote accordingly. 

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Echelons Above Reality

Many years ago, during my last active duty tour as an Air Force lieutenant colonel in the Pentagon (shortly before the Air Force transitioned to single-wing aircraft), I ran an office that did long-range resource planning for intelligence systems. There were a great many times when we spent days or weeks painstakingly developing packages for approval by the senior leadership, only to have those carefully crafted plans shot down or sent back for revision by the generals, the senior civilians, or ... worst ... the lawyers*. We, of course, complained bitterly about this, raging that those people at echelons above reality didn't really understand that we knew better than they did.

Echelons Above Reality was the usual scornful description we applied to those whose jobs required them to look farther, deeper, and with more legal and political nuance than we did. They caused extra work for us, but it almost always resulted in plans that were more sound at all levels than our original products.

Which is why I was horrified to hear the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America denigrate our domestic and international legal responsibilities and the concerns of our (now former) allies as fluff of concern only at echelons above reality ... as annoying cobwebs to be brushed away as impediments to the only legitimate purpose of a military force: killing people and breaking things. 

Now, obviously, we live in a dangerous world, and there's no point in having a military that's not fearsomely lethal. It's like a pickup truck ... you don't need it very often**, but when you do need it, nothing else will do. But on the other hand, you probably want to know that that fearsomely lethal military operates under at least minimum constraints of legality and morality. There's a reason the framers of the Constitution placed the military under civilian control ... they'd lived the experience of having a king that turned his army loose on the citizens.

And now we have a president who actually fancies himself a king, and who had the staggering nerve to say so on the White House Twitter (X) account:

or perhaps "king" isn't quite good enough, as this depiction of Der Furor as an emperor a la Julius Caesar which appeared at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference may be more to his liking:

But it gets worse ...

This past Friday night**, Der Furor fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force for the unforgivable crime of actually caring about the concerns of the men and women under their command. I don't expect someone who has denigrated those who lost their lives in the service of their country as "suckers and losers" to understand that real military leadership means letting those you may have to send to their deaths know that you care about them and their welfare.

At the same time, he fired the most senior Judge Advocates General (JAGs) of the Army, Navy, and Air Force ... the officials responsible for ensuring that the fearsomely lethal military Der Furor and Mr Hegseth want is run according to the law, inconvenient though it may be. These are the people who would explain posse comitatus to unhinged leaders who care only for the ability to wield raw power ... not for the legality and propriety of its employment. 

MAKE NO MISTAKE - THIS IS THE MOST FRIGHTENING AND DANGEROUS THING DER FUROR HAS YET DONE!

There aren't many supporters of Der Furor who read this blog, and so I have the unfortunate sense of preaching to the political choir. The MAGAts who follow the Orange Airhorn have their own sources of information, and will never acknowledge or understand the danger he poses until it affects them personally.

And then it's too late ... for them, and for the rest of us who saw it coming.

Have a good day. Do what you can to keep yourself informed and to help take back what's left of your country and its honor and dignity. More thoughts tomorrow, when we name the first out-of-cycle Ass Clown Special Award.

Bilbo

* There's no emoji to indicate dripping scorn, so just imagine it here.

** Unless you're in need of a powerful boost to your alpha male-ness.

*** He didn't even have the cojones to do it in the light of day.

Musical Sunday

The news has been so unrelievedly bad of late that I need to hear some beautiful music to take my mind off of it. This has been in my collection for a long time, and I think it's one of the most touchingly beautiful songs I've ever heard ...

Here are the lyrics:

You'll remember me when the west wind moves

Upon the fields of barley

You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky

As we walk in fields of gold

So she took her love

For to gaze a while

Upon the fields of barley

In his arms she fell as her hair came down

Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me?

Will you be my love?

Upon the fields of barley

We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky

As we lie in fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so

Upon the fields of barley

Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth

Among the fields of gold

I never made promises lightly

And there have been some that I've broken

But I swear in the days still left

We'll walk in fields of gold

We'll walk in fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days

Among the fields of barley

See the children run as the sun goes down

Among the fields of gold

You'll remember me when the west wind moves

Upon the fields of barley

You can tell the sun in his jealous sky

When we walked in fields of gold

When we walked in fields of gold

When we walked in fields of gold

Do you have someone to love and remember when the west wind moves among the fields of barley? I hope so. I do, and it makes all the difference.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

I long for the good old days, when a doge was just a guy who ran Venice ...

In an astounding (but, considering the source, predictable) revision of history, Der Furor accused Ukraine of starting the war that began with Russia's surprise invasion three years ago; Der Furor's Department of Justice has expanded the scope of the pardons the Orange Airhorn granted to January 6th riot participants to include pardons for gun and drug offenses also committed by some of the rioters; extreme supporter of Der Furor Kash Patel was narrowly confirmed as the director of the FBI, with only two Republican senators voting against his nomination; in an attempt to rid the military of "DEI hires," Der Furor has fired Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Q. Brown (who is black) and Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti (a woman), and intends to replace Brown with a Furor supporter who is not qualified for the position and will require a presidential waiver to fill it; Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announced that he will not run for reelection, having done enough damage to the nation; and from the Oh-This-Is-Awkward Department, the Grok 3 artificial intelligence-based reasoning model rated about half of Elon Musk's posts on Twitter (now X) as "false" or "misleading," while noting that the remaining half were mainly updates about his companies ... adding insult to injury, the model summarized that “[Musk]’s not a journalist or a scientist; he’s a mogul with a megaphone. I’d say follow him for the ideas, not the facts. If something sounds off, dig into it yourself—plenty of his posts don’t survive a Google search.” 

This week, in honor of Der Furor's naming of a White House "Faith Advisor," and of the angry "Christians" of the far right who like to whine that they're so terribly oppressed they'll be fed to the lions tomorrow, I thought some cartoons looking at religion would be timely. 

If you're going to insist on posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms, make them useful for physical rather than spiritual protection ...

That would probably be my halo ...

Especially not the ones in Ukraine, that Der Furor has his eye on ... 

I thought one of Der Furor's bazillion royal decrees executive orders had gotten rid of those ...

They can be very persuasive that way ...

I think a lot of Bible-thumping people expecting the "Christian" equivalent of 72 virgins in the afterlife are going to be in for a shock ...

I think that would be me ...

The only holy war more long-lasting than the Republican vs Democrat one ...

Yes. Yes, it is ...

If it were me, I'd hold out for Saturn, which is prettier ...

And that's it for this week's Cartoon Saturday. Peace be upon all who observe.

Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts tomorrow, when Musical Sunday drops in on Sting.

Bilbo

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for February, 2025

The pace of events and the tsunami of buffoonery roaring out of Der Furor's administration have greatly complicated the choice of Ass Clown awardees ... with so many amazingly "worthy" choices, how does one make the best choice?

One doesn't.

One just dips the net into the swirling cesspool, stirs it around, and sees which floating chunk it randomly comes up with. And this time, the dripping net has snared as

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for February, 2025

"Vice-President"* JD Vance

In his debut on the world stage this month at the annual Munich Security Conference, Mr Vance almost singlehandedly** managed to undo decades of US leadership while deliberately insulting the nation's closest allies.

European leaders had expected Vance to speak about possible talks to end the war in Ukraine and explain the evolving direction of US foreign policy in the Musk/Furor administration. Instead, Mr Vance delivered a blistering attack on European democracies, claiming that European Union "commissars" were suppressing free speech, blaming the continent for mass migration, and accusing its leaders of retreating from "some of its most fundamental values" - a speech long on culture war talking points and short on meaningful ideas and leadership. As Cathy Young of The Bulwark wrote, "Vance’s culture-war tirade was not only pointlessly confrontational and ill-informed; it was also delivered at a moment when lectures on democracy from America have inevitable “Physician, heal thyself” overtones."

Mr Vance's speech was, to say the least, not well received by our European allies, although his behavior was praised by Putin ally and former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev. 

In addition, Mr Vance did not meet with the Chancellor of Germany***, but instead met with the head of the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany party and other German political figures. 

Of course, all this is what we might have expected from a man whose idea of statesmanship was the  complaint that the country was being run by “childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives and the choices that they’ve made,” and who spread lies about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating the pets of their neighbors because "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do."

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Left-Cheek Ass Clown for February, 2025, is "Vice President" JD Vance. You may blow your Bronx cheers now.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when Cartoon Saturday returns.

Bilbo

* Mr Vance's actual job title is unclear. While he ran as the Vice-Presidential candidate on the ticket with Der Furor, Elon Musk's  assumption of the presidency suggests that the Orange Airhorn is now effectively the Vice-President, leaving Mr Vance's exact role undefined. For simplicity's sake, we will refer to him as the "Vice President."

** He was substantially aided by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who threw Ukraine under the bus by calling a return to that nation's pre-2014 borders “an unrealistic objective,” ruled out NATO membership for Kyiv, and gave up US leadership of the Contact Group of more than 50 nations that the previous Defense Secretary formed to coordinate shipments of military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

*** He did meet with Chancellor Olof Scholz at another conference in Paris earlier in the week. God forbid he should have to meet with one of our closest allies more than once.

Who Gets to Define and Interpret the Law?

On February 18th, Der Furor signed yet another royal decree executive order, this one titled "Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies."

As most of his royal decrees executive orders do, this one begins with several paragraphs of lofty rhetoric about presidential responsibilities and sound government, and pays lip service to the "structural safeguards, along with the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, regular elections for the Congress, and an independent judiciary whose judges are appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, by which the Framers created a Government accountable to the American people."*

So far, so good. Things go downhill fast, though, and by the time you get to Section 7 of the decree order, you learn what it really means ... 

Rules of Conduct Guiding Federal Employees’ Interpretation of the Law. The President and the Attorney General, subject to the President’s supervision and control, shall provide authoritative interpretations of law for the executive branch.  The President and the Attorney General’s opinions on questions of law are controlling on all employees in the conduct of their official duties.  No employee of the executive branch acting in their official capacity may advance an interpretation of the law as the position of the United States that contravenes the President or the Attorney General’s opinion on a matter of law, including but not limited to the issuance of regulations, guidance, and positions advanced in litigation, unless authorized to do so by the President or in writing by the Attorney General.

Translation: the president - not the Congress or the Courts - decides what the law is. The Attorney General can also provide "authoritative interpretations of law," but only "subject to the President's supervision and control."

It's been a long time since I took my American history lessons in high school and college, but I seem to remember that we fought a war for independence from kings whose whims and opinions were the law. As I see it, the only real difference between a royal decree from a king and a royal decree executive order from Der Furor is that a king announced his decrees with a roll of drums and a blare of trumpets, while Der Furor slips his in quietly, carefully couched in executive doublespeak so that you don't realize you're being screwed until it's too late. 

I'm glad I didn't vote for this, although I'll suffer from it along with all the fools who didn't pay attention in history and civics classes. 

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when we announce the Left-Cheek Ass Clown for February. See you then.

Bilbo

* Section 1: Policy and Purpose, first paragraph.